That Game Rules!

The year is 21XX. Nintendo was giving all the franchises a shiny upgrade thanks to the SNES. Everything was coming up Super. Meanwhile, Capcom went a different route... In dashes Mega Man X. New moves, new story, new villians and bosses, and a German cartoon theme song that slaps harder than a potential Slap Man. Let's see if X and Zero can hold the title of "That Game Rules!". 

Meanwhile, in 19XX, we check out the movie ...

It's another Sega vs. Nintendo throwdown today. In a world full of Marios and Sonics, it takes a certain charm to stand out. Well, launch the nearest cow because we're talking about Earthworm Jim. This can of worms has everything: Evil the Cat, Princess what's her name, a level called Buttville, and our own space cowboy here to save the day. Let's get groovy and see how this 90's gross humor stands up on That Game Rules! 

Was ...

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen Nintendo controller? Find out today on an inevitable episode in any self-respecting video game podcast: Battletoads. It's a game....and here's an episode about it. 

Timewarp to 1991...talk about Fruit by the Foot.... Speed Bikes.... Turbo Tunnel... Where am I...? 

As always, I can't keep the thoughts straight and&n...

More Mario madness again this week, with one of my favorite games ever: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. A collab by Nintendo and Square in an attempt to bring RPGs to the western audience. It's time to dig deep into the Mushroom Kingdom, introduce fun characters we'll never see again, and celebrate this swan song of the SNES before the N64 came to lay the hammer down. Grab so...

Time for some dragon tales today, featuring our favorite purple 90s dragon with an attitude: Spyro the Dragon. At a time when Nintendo was fighting to keep up with the adult oriented games of the PlayStation, Sony was taking a swing at the plumber himself trying to develop a game to appeal to the younger generation. In flies Spyro in all his sheep roasting, gnorc chirping glory. Ready to collect that treasu...

It’s dangerous to go alone, take this podcast! We break down everything about Legend of Zelda for the NES on this dungeon crawling episode. History and development, music and sound, and exploration with tight controls all add up to one of the best video games ever created. We talk about the memories that made us gamers, playing Zelda for the first time, and ...

Taking a break this week to talk about the perfect peripherals that make gaming possible; those controllers. From Nintendo to Sega, Xbox to Playstation, it's time to see how these controllers hold up against each other.

What is your favorite controller? Let's talk facts, opinions, history, comments and finally rank these bad boys on another retro loving episode of That Game Rules!

Let's waste some more time this week on the w...

Is Perfect Dark the perfect game? We join Joanna and Elvis this week for a spiritual sequel to the iconic game Goldeneye. Aliens, conspiracies, clones, A.I., and loads of cheese make this Nintendo and Rare collab another successful mission. Better weapons, more maps, and a story with more twists than a Christopher Nolan movie... Joanna had some big spy shoes to fill, so let’s load up that ammo, grab a shie...

Streets of Rage 2 is at the top of a lot of “Best of Sega” lists. Some may argue it’s the best beat-em-up game of the entire 16-bit genre. But is them fighting words? Let’s punch and kick our way through another episode, while trying to answer the ultimate question: Can Sega really do what Nintendon’t? Grab that lead pipe, watch out ...

Punch it, Chewie! Except, Chewie really isn’t in this game... but that’s ok. We’re talking about Star Wars today! The first home console game for the franchise that mattered, Star Wars flew into our living rooms and proceeded to promptly feed us kids our lunch, on a Death Star shaped platter. This game is hard, but is it worthy of that “NES TOUGH” title? Grab a glass of blue milk and put a restraining ...

Mama Mia! Time to warp back to the Mushroom Kingdom and get into the gameplay of Super Mario Bros 3. Last week was your history lesson, but today we’re strapping on that Tanooki suit and flying off to explore all the worlds, items, secrets, and Koopa Kid madness of this NES classic. I love this freaking game and so should you! Now, swing your arms from side to side, come on&nb...

Let's-a-go! Super Mario Bros. 3 is a game I’ve wanted to talk about since I started this podcast. I was a kid during Mario Mania and what a time to be alive. Mario 3 brought so much to the series and cemented video games into mainstream culture. It’s a Mario and Nintendo love letter of an episode, so much Mario I had to make this a 2 parter. Join us as we take the nearest warp pipe to Japan and ...

We join Diddy and Dixie this week for Donkey Kong County 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. A top tier Nintendo and Rare collab, featuring some of the best platforming and music from the entire genre. We go bananas on this game, talking about all the memories, soundtrack, characters, levels, and a whole barrel of nonsense. Grab that SNES controller and hit the trails as we get into jungle madness and animal ...

Reticulating Splines... 

The terrain is generated and we’re ready to break down SimCity this week. From the Mac to the PC to the SNES and right into our hearts, SimCity gave game developers a brand new mechanic: Resource Management. A game you don’t “win”, with no levels, no bosses to fight and no high scores couldn’t be successful, could it? SimCity wa...

They’re tiny, they’re toony, they’re all a little looney. We’re diving down the rabbit hole this week with Tiny Toon Adventures on the NES. A simple game for a simpler time. Often referred to as a Super Mario 3 clone, could there be a better compliment for a game? Take your choice of Buster, Plucky, Dizzy, or Furball and let’s head t...

Disney, let’s talk. You already broke our hearts in the theater with The Lion King movie. Then, you release a game that will make an entire generation cry for totally different reasons. At what point does a hard game become just plain...unfair? The claws come out today, as we try to find the good in this beautiful looking game. But, looks can be deceiv...

Grab your favorite color N64 controller (green), we’re talking Paper Mario today. A game that took those fancy 3D polygons and made them sit in the back row. Paper Mario and his 2D sprites may look beautiful, but even they aren’t the stars of this game. It’s the story and the charm, the world building of the Mushroom Kingdom, and of course, the friends we made alon...

Wario’s games are...unique. For me, Warioland 4 is like Zombie Warrior, it slipped through the cracks. So, while I never got to enjoy the GBA during its prime (being stuck in a parenting time loop), I’m here to make up for lost time. Warioland 4 shouldn’t be this good, but Wario’s gross little self has managed to make the jump fr...

Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph take the spotlight once more as we travel to the sewers to kick foot and eat pizza. This was it, this was the big moment. The arcades had finally come to our living room. Save those quarters for another day, because we’re taking a dive into TMNT II: The Arcade game for the NES. Gather around with those personal pan pizzas and let’s talk about the Teena...